So Sam, how did you lose your leg—was it an accident?” “Well not really,” Sam replied. To understand how Sam lost his leg, we need to learn more of Sam’s incredible story.
Sam Oivo was born in Papua New Guinea on May 10, 1976. He was raised in a struggling family. He lived in a neighbourhood where drugs, extortion, prostitution and stealing were common. So at an early age he began drinking alcohol and using drugs and spending most of his time on the streets.
At the age of 15 he joined a gang. His new friends had a big influence on him. He began robbing, stealing and selling what he stole. In fact, his goal in life was to spend more time in criminal activities. He experienced all that is associated with a gang life mixed up with drugs and violence. All the bad things he did brought many problems to his family and to himself. His family and relatives were unhappy because of Sam’s behaviour. Sam’s wife and other family members had been trying to get him to attend church but he wasn’t interested. Church wasn’t for him.
On May 19, 1995, he got shot in his right leg by the police, who were trying to stop his criminal activities. He ended up losing the leg and it was like death came to him. He knew that if he had died, he wouldn’t have been ready to meet his Maker. So he began to think more seriously about his life and decided to change. He wasn’t sure how he was going to do it and who would help him. No-one knew what he was thinking. Not even his wife. Only God knew.
Not long after that he went to spend a week with other young people who were in a house drinking alcohol and smoking drugs. By 3am he was dead drunk listening to pop music through his ear plugs.
In the middle of the playlist, Carrie Underwood’s song came on. Sam was struck by the lyrics: “Jesus, take the wheel/Take it from my hands/’Cause I can’t do this on my own.”
The song tells the story of a young mother hitting a patch of black ice on the road, and recommitting herself to Christ when she comes to a safe stop. Those words touched Sam and with tears in his eyes he got up and left the group. That chorus, “Jesus, take the wheel” kept ringing in his ears and led to his conversion. He still didn’t tell anyone though.
On the Friday a voice kept saying to him, “Go to church tomorrow.” So he got up Sabbath morning, and—so his wife wouldn’t know where he was going—he went off in his usual clothes. But before he got to the church, he changed into Sabbath clothes. By the time he got home again he had changed back into his ordinary clothes. That Sabbath was November 25, 2013.
When his wife found out he had accepted Jesus and changed his ways and was going to church she was so happy.
Sam was baptised on April 19, 2014 and became a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Popondetta.
Sam became a missionary and in 2024 was caring for a newly organised church in Popondetta that had seven hand churches. In 2025 he will be doing training at Omaura School of Ministry in the Eastern Highlands to prepare himself for further ministry.
Sam says he is “so grateful to be alive and to live in freedom”. Many of his former friends are dead and others are serving long prison sentences. But the good news is that because of Sam’s witness many of his former friends have also accepted Jesus, changed their ways and have been baptised and joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
He is a highly respected Christian and even gang members who haven’t accepted Jesus still respect him—his word carries a lot of weight with them. Hence it was fitting that Sam be appointed head of security for PNG for Christ meetings in Popondetta.
Apart from a few gunshots at the back of the crowd one night there was no trouble at the meetings. The night the appeal was made to accept Christ as Saviour one gang member was heard to say to his mates,“I don’t know what you are going to do, but I am going forward to accept Christ.” His mates replied, “We are coming with you.”
On the last night of the program, Pastor Don Fehlberg, former remote area senior pastor for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ministries of the Australian Union Conference, who was speaking in Popondetta, met a man by the name of Ronnie.
Ronnie told Pastor Don he had been baptised during the meetings. He told him he had had a pretty rough life and then, pointing to Sam, he said, “I was with him.” Pastor Don, who had already heard Sam’s story, told Ronnie he understood.
Now Sam and Ronnie have teamed up, working to win souls to Jesus. They are a powerful team under the blessing of the Holy Spirit.
“Looking back, I am most grateful to my Seventh-day Adventist family,” says Sam. “They were willing to be different, to live by the Bible’s principles. I grew to respect them more than I ever respected anyone in the gang.
“Above all, I am thankful to God for teaching me the very best way to live . . . Though I am a person with a disability [Sam walks with crutches], I know God will still help me.”
God has not only helped Sam to change his ways and live a life to glorify Jesus. He is using Sam in a mighty way to lead people to Jesus. He had 95 people prepared for baptism for PNG for Christ!
Sam concludes, “May this story bless and encourage a brother like me. No matter how bad you are God still loves you and cares about you.”
Pastor Don Fehlberg is a retired ATSIM remote area pastor but still very active in ministry. He writes from Perth, WA.
